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November 24, 2011

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Publisher's Summary: Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she’s returned—to her old life, her family, her boyfriend—before she’s banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance—and the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki’s time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole’s queen.

Everneath is a captivating story of love, loss, and immortality from debut author Brodi Ashton.

My Take: The moment I picked up and started reading Everneath by Brodi Ashton, I knew it would be a book I would gush over! Everneath begins with a very dark, extremely bizarre scene and from that point on I was really intrigued with this story.

Nikki returns to the Surface drawn by the only thing that can make her choose the Surface over a life of immortality…a single face that anchors her to her old life. Jack! When she first returns to the Surface, she only barely remembers his face and it is a real struggle to even recover his name! But she knows for certain that he is the reason she has chosen the soon to be horrible end for herself over a life of immortality. This is where my curiosity rose and I was thinking, “If he is THE boy she truly loves then why the heck did she even choose to follow Cole to the Everneath in the first place?” No worries, my questions were answered!

I’m not really sure how I feel about the characters in Everneath! We learn about each character after the protagonist (Nikki) has gone missing for 6 months and without anyone having the slightest idea of where the heck she’s been. Brodi Ashton did a remarkable job in finding the best time in the story to move back and forth between the past (before Nikki’s disappearance to the Everneath) and the present. By doing this, Brodi shows how much everyone, including Nikki herself, has changed due to her disappearance. And boy has she changed! When she first returns to the Surface, from the look of her severe malnourished state (and the fact that her disappearance is so unexplained), the only logical explanation is that she became a severe drug addict and had to undergo rehab. Not only that, but Nikki is as fragile as a beat down, emotionless puppy and, instead of worrying about what everyone is thinking of her, her only thought is that she wants to repair the destruction her disappearance has caused everyone! But after her return to the Surface, she is now truly all alone, and I thought, “Why wouldn’t she just give up?”

Throughout the book, I grew to admire and adore Nikki. I think her character is really strong because it would take a lot for most people to not just give in to the easiest way out in Nikki’s situation! So if we are talking teams right now, I’d say that I’m “Team Nikki!” I did fall in love with Jack; he's the sweet hottie that you wouldn't mind cuddling with! I’m still unsure about my feelings for Cole but he is sooo yummy! I think I’m star struck! To be completely honest, if “I” were Nikki, I would find it easy to overlook Cole’s motives and swoon over his bad boy rock star hotness! But I think I’m most unsure of Nikki’s father as well as her best friend…I truly don’t know how I feel about them…their reaction toward the whole thing is the weirdest for me. Nikki’s father did have one moment that I was thinking, “Oh! That is so sweet!”…with tears in my eyes! You would think based on their reaction to her strange behavior and even more bizarre disappearance, that their emotions would be way more extreme, one way or another. But I was barely getting that from them…especially her supposed best friend! But I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so I will have to debate this with someone who has already read Everneath.

But I am more than eager to find out what will happen next! There is a sequel right? There better be…or I’ll be extremely unhappy! And I better not have to wait long! Can I read it now? Please??? The turn in the end only makes me certain that this will be a series that I will be majorly obsessed with.

OMG! I almost left out the one thing I was determined to talk about the most! This book takes place in Park City UTAH! I loved reading a book that takes place in a city I grew up loving! HELLO! I'm from Utah! So I was always super excited when a friend who had a condo in Park City would invite me and some other friends to go stay up there! Park City is THE BEST place for tourists to go skiing! It is where a lot of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games were held! AND Brodi Ashton is from Utah! But...She didn't go to my fave college, GO COUGARS! She went to college at the University of Utah (Cougars rivals) booooo! LoL

Fantastic review! i got this book from Shannon @HP Canada when I was visiting in Toronto, I immediately started reading it, but then I had to stop (ugh! dead lines!). Then I lent my ARC to a friend and, well, now I am waiting for a chance to start reading it again! From the couple of chapters I did read, though, I can say it really seems like a good read. Not sure about the whole "missing for six months" thing, cause people didn't seem to be too worried or even suspicious (which is weird), but maybe I just didn't get far enough to understand what was going on!anyhoo~ fab review! Glad you enjoyed the book and I can't wait to pick it up again!

You must be LDS, Mindy. So am I! Just not from Utah. All my older brothers and sisters went to BYU, but I didn't (too hard to get in by the time I finished high school).

I'll be keeping my eye on this book more so now. Wanna see how the other book bloggers react to this one closer to the release date. I'll read a book for sure if it gets enough praise from all the bloggers I trust!

Thanks for the great review of Everneath! I skimmed along it the other day so I have to officially read through the pages... but what I read, I really liked. And don't worry, it's the first in a new trilogy, so there's more to come for sure!

I can't wait to read this! I try to wait until all of the books in a series are out or else I go crazy waiting to find out what is going to happen. Plus if it has been a year since I read the last book, I forget a lot of what has happened in the last book and I feel like I miss out on a lot of stuff.

Dear followers, fans and peeps! Some of the books I review on Magical Urban Fantasy Reads are provided to me for free by either the publisher or author in exchange for my honest review. Please know that I am in NO WAY compensated for my reviews. All opinions are mine and I am not required to give a positive review in exchange for a free book! But some of the purchase links on my blog are monetized through places like Amazon, Book Depository or Barnes & Noble.

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